12.21.11

“Was the (Kim Khardashian/Kris Humphries) marriage fake all along? Was Kim really caught in a nude Yoga session with a male instructor in their home?” asks People’sForbes’ Tom Van Ripper, by way of providing background for a p.r. firm’s poll that determined Nets F Humphries is now “The Most Disliked Player In The NBA”, supplanting none other than universal pariah LeBron James. Analyzing a Top Ten (with slideshow accompaniment) provided by Nielsen Research and E-Poll Marketing, Van Ripper helpfully explains that in the case of hated contenders Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, fans have “a natural hankering to root against super teams formed by aligning superstars.” Bosh, Van Ripper explains, “have never been previously regarded as controversial”, thus ignoring the possibility Toronto fans might have hard feelings of their own.

It seems a tad farfetched to think that Humphries, while widely ridiculed, could actually inspire a fraction of the hatred generated by James. I’m also not sure I want to live in a country where a naive putz like Humphries is considered a more deserving target than Christian Death.